


The Last Fire Mage

by chaosphoenix123



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-01-22 11:36:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21301412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosphoenix123/pseuds/chaosphoenix123
Summary: He was sick of being in the shadows. He was tired of being left behind whenever Natsu and the others went off on some grand adventure. So at the age of 16, he makes a decision and goes off to train on Tenrou alone to become stronger. But while he's there, "The Extinguishing" occurs and when he returns he finds himself suddenly shoved into the spotlight on the world stage. Romeo x ?
Relationships: Evergreen/Elfman Strauss, Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Romeo Conbolt/?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**The Extinguishing.**

No one knows exactly when and where it began, but the first official record of it in Fiore occurred in the royal palace itself. Queen Hisui and her father, the former king Toma E. Fiore, were working late into the night looking over that documents that were informing them of the progress of the reconstruction going on throughout the country in the aftermath of the invasion when the Queen felt a tad chilly and summon one of the royal servants to light the fireplace within the room, but upon doing so , something strange happening. The servant, who was an average mage, went to summon a small fireball to throw into the fireplace...but no flames came forth within his hands. The servant went to try and again but the same result occurred.

Embarrass by his mediocre performance, the servant excused himself and went to fetch another servant working the late shift who could also do fire magic. But this servant's attempt was no different than the last and that is where the Royal Family began to suspect something was amiss.

Before long, reports were coming in from all over the country; mages finding themselves unable to cast any magic that had even a whiff of fire in it. Soon Queen Hisui from receiving intel from her spies throughout the land that this problem wasn't just a problem for Fiore, but for everyone. All three known continents of Earthland were experiencing this epidemic as not even a small, simple, fireball could be summoned by even the most powerful of mages and magical items that produce flames simply cease to function. No one could figure out what causes this nor could be even being to devise a solution to it. So just like that, all of the magical flames in the world were snuff out.

**X796**

**One year and a half later**

Some time ago, the young mage known as Romeo Conbolt left the guild to go train on Tenrou Island in order to better himself and become a much more powerful mage so he would not be completely overshadowed by Natsu and the others. It was Master Makarov who provided the idea and the means of getting there, allowing him to use the guild's personal ship to get there but warning him that the currents have gotten more violent since the incident with Acnologia all those years ago. Nowadays, there was only a small window of time when the currents and tides were calm enough for a ship to get through without a hassle and that the boy would be stuck on that island until that day came back around. After the guild master went over a few charts he determines that Romeo would not be able to return to the mainland for at least eighteen months.

While this development did make Romeo balk for a moment, (and cause his dad to go hysterical) he eventually decided to take that chance and it took only a couple of hours for him and Master Makarov to convince Macao that this was a good path for the teenager to take.

After packing his things and saying goodbye to the guild, Romeo set out on his journey to Tenrou, landing on the island the next day, (luckily the ship basically move itself thanks to the runes etched into it by Makarov and Freed). Romeo had to survive off the island itself after a while since he only brought enough food with him to last the first three months, but there were plenty of fruits and wildlife to accomplish that.

After a year and a half from the day he landed, Romeo set sail back for Hargeon Town, but the port was completely filled with ships. Every pier was used up by either merchant vessels or military ships; so much that he had to anchor the guild ship a good two miles away from the port and used the rowboat to go ashore.

"That's something you don't see every day", Romeo told himself as he jumps out of the rowboat and walked up to the beach, "Wonder what's going on."

He strolls to the forest until he came to the main road that would lead him to Magnolia, but upon coming out through the trees he notices a military checkpoint had been set up a couple of miles from his hometown, the guards at the post demanding money before allowing anyone to cross.

Romeo ruffles through his pockets and pales when he discovers that he didn't have enough money to pay the toll.

"_Why is there a checkpoint here to begin with?!", _Romeo thought as he silently bypasses the checkpoint, never once drawing any attention in his general direction.

"I'm finally home", an eighteen-year-old Romeo sigh awhile later as he looked upon the Kardia Cathedral of Magnolia and beyond it at the guild building of the mighty Fairy Tail magic guild, "Hard to believe I have been gone for more than a year. Can't wait to see how everyone been doing."

Such thoughts of pleasant reunions were pushed out of his mind upon him entering the town of his birth.

"This is new", Romeo tells himself as he began to walk down the main road toward the guild hall where he suspects his father and the others would be at this time of day. Along the way, he passes by the bakery and notices an extremely long line that went down the block and from his angle he could see the bakery staff frantically try to fill orders as they scrambled about.

_"___I don't remember them ever having a problem with that before I left. Does everyone all of a sudden want bread for some reason? ____", __Romeo thought to himself as he turns his attention toward the town forge where the local blacksmith was currently having an argument with what seems like an army officer.

"I'm telling you that we need those swords!", the officer yelled.

"And I'm telling you, that it's going to take time. I don't have a fancy magical forge anymore that doesn't burn through coal, plus I have to stop every few minutes to readjust the heat so the metal will come out perfectly and not shatter!", the blacksmith counters, "Hell, speaking of coal, my shipments have to come all the way from Bosco due to there not being any large natural mines in Fiore!"

"Perhaps it's time the Royal Army took its business elsewhere", the officer threatened.

"Ha!", the blacksmith barked, "Good luck with that! If you can find a blacksmith who's not having the same problems as me, I'll gladly quit and go work for them!"

The two continue to argue back and forth as Romeo walks by them, wondering to himself what exactly was going on.

"_Is his forge broken or something? Is Fiore about to go to war?___", __Romeo tells himself as he spots the guild hall coming up.

"_I'm pretty sure someone can fill me on the details when I get to the guild."_

Romeo pulls up to the massive front doors of the guild hall but doesn't push open the doors for something caught his attention

Or to be more exact the lack of something caught his attention.

"It's quiet", Romeo told himself, "Too quiet, usually there's a brawl happening around this time. Maybe Natsu and the others are out on a job", as he pushes open the guild hall doors.

To his utter shock and disbelief, the guild was completely full yet no one was being rowdy or anything. Everyone was simply sitting down, their faces looking down at their glasses.

"_Did someone died?", _Romeo thought as he made his way to the tavern where Mira was serving drinks. Along the way, he looked around for his father, Natsu, or anyone of his closest friends but none were to be found.

"Hey Mira", Romeo says as he pulls up a seat, catching the model/overly powerful mage's attention.

"Oh my stars, is that you Romeo?", she gasps putting down the drinks she had in her hands.

"The one and only, how has everything been?", Romeo asks, hoping to get a feel on what has been going on since he left.

"Well, you know", Mira started out with a sigh, "It has been doing as good as it can get ever since...well you know. How have you coping?"

Romeo raises an eyebrow, "Coping with what? What has happened since I been gone?"

Mira shakes her head, "Please don't be one of those mages that are still in denial, Romeo. You're better than that."

"What are you talking about-", Romeo started to say before a voice broke through the air.

"Fire getting low again", causing Romeo to turn in the direction of the voice, where a random member of the guild was standing next to, like he said, a fireplace.

"_Since when did we get that?", _Romeo thought as he turns to see Mira and a couple of other members walking over to it with the bartender carrying a box of matches while the guys behind her were carrying some cut up logs.

"Looks like it's going to be another tough winter for Fairy Tail", Mira murmurs as she walks by Romeo, "With the cost of matches and lumber going up again."

She was only a dozen steps away from her destination with a stream of flames shoots over her head and arches downward into the fireplace, setting it ablaze and instantly warming up the entire building, almost smothering it in heat.

After a few moments of staring at the blazing inferno, Mira and the rest of the guild slowly turn around to look back at the tavern where a nonchalantly Romeo was still sitting with his hand stretch out and flames still dancing at his fingertips.

"I don't know why you guys even brought a fireplace in the first place. But hey, if Master Makarov approve it then who am I to question it?", Romeo spouts off before finally noticing the stares he was getting from everyone.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

Mira slowly walks over to Romeo and takes him by the hands and starts leading him up the stairs to the Guild Master's office.

"Hey, what's going on here?!", the fire mage questions only to be ignored and since he didn't have the strength to break free of Mira's grasp, he decided to just go along with it.

Only after she burst open the door to reveal Master Makarov, Laxus, Macao, and Wakaba discussing something did she speak again...

"You're not going to believe what just happen!"

** _Natsu Dragneel aka Salamander._ **

** _Ezra Scarlet aka Titania._ **

** _Wendy Marvell aka The Sky Sorceress._ **

** _Gajeel Redfox aka Black Steel._ **

** _Juvia Lockser aka The Rain Woman._ **

** _Elfman Strauss aka Beast Arm Elfman._ **

** _Mirajane Strauss aka The Demon._ **

These are just a few of the alias given to the most skilled mages of Fairy Tail. Names that struck fear into the hearts of the foes far and wide and were known across Ishgar and beyond. Names that were constantly making the headlines, especially after the Alvarez war.

But they are not the focus of this tale for that honor belongs to another. One who was raised within the guild since his first days on this planet. One who despite fighting in the frontlines of the Alvarez conflict and has proven himself time and time again has yet to earn a name for himself. He has only earned the unofficial title of….

Romeo Conbolt, son of the Fourth Guild Master of Fairy Tail.

But now after the "**Extinguishing", **he has earned a new title:

Romeo Conbolt aka The Last Fire Mage.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Extinguishing**

**Chapter 2**

The clock ticks away the seconds as the Mira and the group of older male mages sat on the couch, trying to come to terms with the fireball that was hovering in Romeo's palm. Their expressions range from shock, confusion, hopefulness, and finally, Laxus usual scowled expression. While Makarov was staring down at his desk in silence, his mind deep in thought, the others were busy having their personal discussions.

"So you're telling me that because the runt was on Tenrou when the "Extinguishing" happen that he wasn't affected by it?", the Lightning Dragon-Slayer asks, "That sound pretty damn convenient if you ask me, even for our guild standards."

"Maybe the special magic of the island had something to do with it", Mira suggested, "You know, something along the lines of Fairy Sphere or whatnot."

"You think if I go there I might get my magic back?", Macao whispers to his best friend.

Wakaba shook his head, "I don't think it works that way. Sorry, buddy"

While these discussions were going on around him, Romeo was lost in his own little world.

"_No one has been able to use fire magic for a year and a half? __Was being on Tenrou truly the reason why I wasn't affected__? __What caused __all__ this in the first place? __Wait a minute, what about Natsu? How is he handling all of this?", _he thought as he remembers that the only other magic that his idol could use was Transformation Magic, "_I can only imagine what these past months have been like for him."_

"Let's go over this again", Master Makarov began, snapping Romeo out of his thoughts, "You didn't experience any problems whatsoever with your fire magic while you were on Tenrou?"

Romeo slowly shakes his head, still trying to piece together everything that was explained to him about this "Extinguishing" that happen while he was gone, "If anything it only got stronger as the days went by. It was like it kept jumping up in power every few days."

"Please go further into detail on this matter, if you will", Makarov says.

Romeo founds himself nervously scratching back of his head as he turn away in shame, "About three months ago, I burn down a good chunk of Tenrou's forest with a single fire blast while trying to start a campfire and I wasn't even trying that hard. I mean, at one point I thought it was because of the island itself", he admitted before seeing the glare in Master Makarov's eyes, "It grew back just fine in like a week, I swear! It's like it never happened!"

The elderly wizard saint took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Continue"

Romeo pull himself together before going on with his tale, "Well anyway, so I decided to focus on my training on controlling the amount of magic I put into a spell", he explains before looking over at Mira, "Despite the nonchalant look I had on my face downstairs when I lit the fireplace, I was actually concentrating pretty hard to keep the flames from getting out of control."

Silence reigns once again within the room for a time before Makarov leans back in his wheelchair and stare up at the ceiling, "I suppose that makes sense now that I think about it."

Laxus throws him a look, "Something you like to tell the rest of us, old man?"

"_Glad to see that his attitude hasn't changed much?", _Romeo thought before turning his attention back to Master Makarov.

"Everyone here is familiar with the "flows of magic" concept, correct? How they're two separate flows in the world?", he asks drawing a strange look from everyone.

"Yeah, they're the sources of energy that spring forth from the One Magic, one of the natural source and the other of the artificial source", Macao began.

"Depending on the type of magic you're casting you either tap into one source or the other or both if necessary", Wakaba added.

"And if you're taping into the natural flow then you also have to tap into one of the five main elements as well or a combination of them", Laxus states, "Like Rainbow Fire magic does."

"And those five elements flow are those of earth, wind, water, lightning, and-", Mira says.

"Fire", Romeo finish as he dispels the flame.

"Yes, yes", Makarov nods, "All good answers, but that brings me to my next item", as he looks specifically at Romeo, "If Romeo's story is to be believed then the reason his magic suddenly got so powerful is because as far as anyone else is aware of he is the only mage able to tap into the fire magic flow so he has access to all that energy for his spells."

"I'm not quite sure I get what you're saying, old man", Wakaba admitted as he scratches his head, "Explain it in common folk's tongue if you will."

Makarov lets out a grumble as he reaches into his desk and rummages through it.

While doing so, Romeo took the time to catch up with his dad seeing how they haven't even had time to hug each other after he and Mira burst into the room, "Say, old man, how have things been since I been gone?"

Macao instead of answering Romeo's questions simply put him in a headlock while ruffling his hair, "Same old, same old", he says as he lets his son go, "Though the loss of my Purple Flare has forced me to learn some new magic; not an easy task for someone my age."

"What magic do you have now?", Romeo wonders, actually feeling bad for his father. No doubt the bills must have been hard to pay without him able to use his primarily magic and go out on his usual jobs.

Macao holds up a finger, "Well, as you already know I have Transformation Magic", to which Romeo nods, "And I also learned….I learned", Fairy Tail's fourth guild master seems to struggle as he tries to speak the next words.

"Dad?", Romeo says while giving Macao a quizzical look, "What's wrong?"

Wakaba starts patting Macao on his back, "You can do this, Macao. Just like we practice. You knew you had to tell him eventually."

"What's going on?", Romeo wonder.

"Give him time, son", Wakaba says and after a moment, Macao spoke up.

"I learned….Water Magic", he confesses and almost broke down as a result.

Romeo was at a lost for words and he had every right to be. No one in the entire Conbolt's family line has ever been a water mage. Sure, there were a couple of non-fire mages now and then but it was an unwritten family taboo to learn water magic, it was the exact opposite of his family's lineage which has evolve completely around producing skillful fire mages for the last twelve generations. Hell, even his ice flames toe the line and it took his dad arguing day and night with his grandpa to keep him from basically kicking him out of the family.

"Wait, does that mean…?", Romeo asks, dreading the answer.

"I haven't talked to your grandpa or anyone else in the family in over six months", Macao said while trying his best to keep himself together, "I needed to pay the bills and it was the quickest magic to learn!", he nearly cried as he holds out his hand and the water from the glass cup on the table in front of him began to rise up and slowly move to form into a ball inside his palm.

"I'm….I'm so sorry, dad", Romeo began only for Macao to hold his other hand up to stop him.

"This wasn't your fault, son. You had nothing to do with it", he assures him, "I'm making ends meet and moving ahead in life and that's all that matters."

Interrupting their tender family moment, Makarov finally finishes going through his desk and produces a party balloon, "Before anyone asks, you brats left them in here while celebrating my birthday a few months ago."

"Sorry about that", Mira giggles.

Makarov merely nods before looking over at the water sphere in Macao's hand, "Ah, that will do. Macao, focus that water into this balloon, will ya? Just like we practice."

Focusing his magic, Macao streams the water out of the sphere and directs it into the entrance to the balloon that Master Makarov was holding open. In moments the contents of the balloon were filled though it was only at the halfway point of its capacity.

"This will do", Makarov shrugs, "Now everyone, pretend this balloon is the One Magic, okay?"

Everyone nods their heads at this concept and this was the cue for the guild master to continue, "Now say I poke some holes here at the top of it", as he pulls out a needle and turns the balloon underside down so that the water was at the end where his hand was grip. He then pokes over a dozen holes in the opposite end and then turn the balloon back to its original position and hover it over the empty cup on his desk.

Everyone in the room watches as the water slowly began to drip out of the holes Master Makarov made before he turns the balloon upside down once again, "That represents the natural flow of fire magic before the "Extinguishing", back when there was a large number of users", he explain, "Now this represents the natural flow now that Romeo is the only known user", as he let his hand go and the water came gushing out into the cup as one large stream, "Without a sufficient number of users all that fire magic energy has been building up for a time and since Romeo is the only outlet for it, his spells are powered by far more magical energy than usual."

Romeo holds up a finger, "So you're saying that I really didn't get any stronger while on Tenrou?"

"I felt your magical presence when you walked into the room, Romeo", Makarov confess, "I hate to break it you but while you have improved greatly, you're still not on Natsu's level even before he left for the S-class exams in X784."

Romeo's face drop in disappointment as a negative aura began to appear around him, "All that training for nothing."

"Nonsense", Makarov tells him, "Any improvements you made while on Tenrou is something to be proud of and it also allowed you to miss getting caught up in the epidemic that's going around."

Makarov then rolled his wheelchair out from behind his desk and started toward the door, "Now shake a leg, I want to see for my own eyes just how powerful you have become", he announces drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Say that again, old man", Laxus says.

Makarov stops in front of the door, "I want to gauge how powerful Romeo truly is", he repeated, "And there's no time like the present. Now hurry up, you youngsters! Every second I waste waiting on you is another second closer to the grave for me!"

The group exchange looks at one another before Laxus gets up and goes over to open the door for his grandpa. Rolling him through the doorway he is barely out the door when he picks the wheelchair up with one hand, Master Makarov and all, and became proceed to the stairwell, "Like the old man said, get a move on", he calls over his shoulder and that was the deciding factors to make everyone else fall in line behind him.

As the group of veteran Fairy Tail mages reaches the stairwell, Romeo notices that it was suddenly eerie quiet in the guildhall and when he looked over the railing he saw why.

All eyes were on him as he slowly proceeds down the stairs while trying to calm the uneasiness that was swelling up inside of him at all the attention he was getting. The group made it down the stairs where Laxus place his grandfather's wheelchair back on the ground and started rolling him to the main doors, his intimidating bulk easily parting the crowd as everyone gave him a wide berth.

"_I see several things haven't changed since I been gone", _Romeo thought as he briefly scans the room, "_Though I do find it odd that almost everyone was out on a job on the day I got bac-"_

"Romeooooooooo!", a high-pitch voice shouts out.

"_And that's what I get for looking a gifted horse in the mouth", _Romeo thought just right before a blur collides into him, sending him to the floor.

"When did you get back? Why didn't you send a letter telling us you were going to be back? I hear you can use fire magic, is that true? How can you use fire magic? Can ya show me? Can ya show me? Can ya, huh?", came spewing out like bullets out of the mouth of the eleven year old cowgirl dressed in a brown poncho with a green undershirt and blue leather jeans along with her signature hat who was currently standing over Romeo while he laid on the floor with an annoyed expression etched into his face though if one was close enough they could make out the faint hint of a smile on his lips.

"Hi to you too, Asuka", he merely says as he moves to get up, "How have you been?"

"Never mind how I been, how have you been?", Asuka says, "You leave for almost two years and when you come back you can suddenly use fire magic!"

"I never lost the ability to use fire magic, Asuka. I've been having it even during this "Extinguishing" thing", Romeo explains only to hear several gasps erupt around him as he suddenly remembers where he was at, "Aw, crap."

"He has been having fire magic all this time?"

"How is that possible?"

"Was it because he was on Tenrou?"

These questions and more were being asked all around him by his fellow guild members, though none of them were directed at him.

"Alright, listen up, you brats!", Master Makarov's voice booms over the crowd, impressive considering his age, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions that you want answers and we'll get them to you in time, but for now I need everyone to head outside to the open field!", he says before turning his attention to the Rainbow Fire mage.

"Romeo here is going to demonstrate to us just how much his training has paid off while he was on Tenrou!"


	3. Chapter 3

** _The Extinguishing_ **

** _Chapter 3_ **

"_You know, I wasn't expecting much when I finally came home. I just wanted something along the lines of __seeing everyone again__ and __finding out__ what they have been up to while I was gone. You know, hanging out with Natsu and the others, maybe a light spar__ with him or something. Hell, I would have taken a guild brawl as a welcome __back gift__", _Romeo thought as he stood on the sandy shore while looking out toward Lake Scilliora for a moment before turning around.

"But I was not expecting this!", he screams to the heavens while the entirety of Fairy Tail minus most of its veterans were looking at him, "How did we come to this?"

"Are you about done getting your panties in a bunch?", Laxus asks as he stood off to the side of him alongside his grandfather, Mirajane, Wakaba, Asuka, and Macao, "Because I got better things to do right now, like sleeping and watching paint dry."

Romeo throws a glare at Laxus, an action that surprises even himself, but the Lightning Dragon-Slayer didn't look fazed by it whatsoever, he actually smirks at the gesture, "Boy, I'm thirty-five years old, a promising candidate for wizard saint, and next in line to become guild master. You're going to have to do better than that to scare me."

"Why if I was a little bit stronger, I'd knock your block off", Romeo grumbles before turning around back toward the lake….

Only now that was a towering solid mass of muscles and yellow hair suddenly standing in front of him and the young man slowly looked up into the eyes of one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages who was staring back down at him as a spark of lightning arch off of his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I couldn't quite hear you", Laxus said with an edge in his voice and Romeo found himself quivering in fear, with his body shaking so much that his knees almost gave out.

"I-I-I-I", he stutters out while in the back of his mind he was berating himself for forgetting about the super hearing all dragon-slayers had.

Laxus then puts his hand on his chin and gives off the impression that he was deep in thought, "I believe you said that if you were just a little bit stronger you would knock my block off."

Romeo gulps loudly and began to stammer out an apology but Laxus throws a hand up to stop him in the midst of it.

"No, no. I completely understand", he began, "You want to test the benefits of your training in the best way possible and the only way that is possible is by practicing on me. Excellent idea, runt!", Laxus as he looked to where Makarov and the others were still standing, "I going to let the brat punch me!"

The five of them exchange looks with one another before Macao spoke up, "You promise not to kill him?"

"That's the only thing you have to say about all this?!", Romeo shouts as he finally finds his voice, "Seriously, dad?!"

"I'm sure you will be fine", Macao shrugs, "I mean, I've been taking hits from Laxus for years and look how I turn out."

"Probably not the best example to use", Wakaba says underneath his breath before taking a puff of his cigar.

"Good luck, Romeo!", Mirajane cheers as she gives a thumbs up while Asuka leans over to whisper to her guild master.

"Y'all sure this is the best way to see how much Romeo has changed? There much be a better way that doesn't get him killed."

Master Makarov merely crosses his arms and nodded, "Hmph, this probably is the best way to gauge the boy's level", the guild master said before looking directly at his grandson, "Granted you are only going to be taking the punch and not retaliating with one in return."

Romeo once again found himself struggling to make a complete sentence but was interrupted by a heavy hand being placed on his shoulder and he turns around to see the devil himself staring back at him, only with lightning arcing off of his body instead of flames.

"Don't worry, old man, I'll go easy on him", he said with a sadistic grin that almost cause Romeo to wet himself.

Makarov nods at this and turns around in his wheelchair to face the guildhall, "Let's get out of the way, shall we?"

Mirajane takes his advice and began to push the elderly man toward the building followed by Asuka, Macao, and Wakaba, "It's nice to see Laxus begin more social and trying to connect with the next generation."

"Indeed, he has changed much over the years", Makarov replies.

Back to Romeo who was still having a mild panic attack, "Now Laxus, I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"Hit me", was the dragon-slayer's reply, "Wherever you want as hard as you can and don't you dare hold back."

"I'm pretty sure I'll end up hurt myself if I do", Romeo confesses.

"You rather I do it to you then?", Laxus asks.

"No, no! Please no!", Romeo says as he waves his hands.

"Then hit me", Laxus states as if he was complimenting on the weather, "If you truly are the last fire mage left in the world, then I least want to know that you will be an asset to Fairy Tail when I eventually take over; the old man ain't got much time left in him in case you haven't noticed."

Romeo still didn't look convinced to go through with this insane request so Laxus decided to bring out the big guns.

"You know the old Natsu would have been thrilled at the chance to hit me if only to see how powerful he was", he says while shrugging, "Guess he's not as big of a hero to you as I thought he was seeing how you don't want to be just like him. Which is probably a good thing since that means you won't take after him in the low intelligent department."

A fiery magic circle appears underneath Romeo and flames burst forth from his right arm, burning brilliantly in the afternoon sun as they engulf it from tips of his fingertips to the top of his shoulder. The sand underneath him instantly turns to glass and the nearby fallen leaves from the guild's trees were turn to ash in a blink of an eye.

"Oh my", Mirajane smiles as she uses her hand to fan herself, "I can feel the heat from here."

"Wow, they're so bright!", Asuka says in amazement and the flames dancing around Romeo's arm.

"The lad has indeed grown in power", Makarov nods with his hand on his chin, "But how much of this is his magic and how much of it is the fire flow pouring out into him?"

"I could stick out a fresh cigar and it would probably light up with the heat coming off of your boy", Wakaba tells Macao who only nodded proudly at the display his son was putting on.

"Chip off the old block."

Laxus smile as he stares into Romeo's narrow eyes while not showing any signs of being affected by the heat despite being right in front of the fire mage, "Oh, looks like I struck a nerve. Did I say something you didn't want to hear even though it's the truth?", he laughed, "Admit it, even you must think Natsu is an idiot with the antics he pulls. How he landed a girl like Lucy I'll never know and I fail to see why you even look up to him. You would have had a much better role model in me. I would have actually taught you to be a better mage!"

The fire on Romeo's arm was burning so high now that the water closest to him and Laxus began to turn into steam and evaporate into the air and within the red and orange tangle mesh of flames, specks of blue could be seen within them by the trained eye, indicating that extremely high temperatures were being achieved.

"Alright kid!", Laxus shouts, "Give me your best shot and hopefully you will prove a better source of entertainment than that pink-hair idiot has been for the past year and a half! His pathetic moping around the guild makes me want to puke!"

Whatever instincts that were telling Romeo to resist Laxus' taunts and calm down were overwhelmed by the young man's sudden urge to strike the dragon-slayer as hard as he could for badmouthing Natsu. All that training he practiced while on Tenrou in order to control his flames was thrown out the window and he lost all sense of concentration. He just wanted to hit Laxus no matter how bad of an idea it was and before he knew it, he was already reeling his arm back as he spots the S-Class mage smirking once again.

"Show me want you got, runt. Prove to me that you didn't waste a year and half of your life on that island for nothing", he says and Romeo's unleashes his attack straight into his gut.

"AHHHHHHHHH!", Romeo screams as his fist makes contact.

An explosion of extreme magnitude erupts near the lakeside shaking the ground while a massive billow of fire shoots out into the crystal blue water, creating a cloud of steam in the process that blanketed the area and obscuring the vision of everyone present.

"What happen?!", Macao screams out while waving the steam away and trying to see the outcome of his son's brash behavior.

"What do you think just happen?", Wakaba answers.

"Is Romeo okay?!", Asuka wonder.

"Oh dear, that was quite spectacular", Mirajane states as holds out a hand , "Let me clear this out so we can get a better look, shall I?", as a magic circle for wind appears in front of her hand and a strong breeze came streaming out of it and into the area from the guildhall to the shore of the lake.

Soon the cloud was beginning to disappear and as everyone's vision became clearer and clearer the outlines of Romeo and Laxus could be seen. The young fire mage had a strain expression on his face as his arm was still outstretched and his fist was still in contact with Laxus' gut while the stronger mage had a smile on his face but other than that there seemed to be no significant change.

Mirajane lets out a pout while both Wakaba and Macao shake their heads.

"Awww, and I was hoping that Romeo got stronger", the Devil of Fairy Tail whines.

"Me too!", Asuka sulks

"Yeah, we did too", Macao added while Wakaba nodded, "But at least he has some power behind his punches."

Makarov shakes his head before speaking, "It's hard to believe that someone as old as me can still see things that you youngsters can't." He then pointing down toward the ground at where Romeo and Laxus were still standing, "Take a look at Laxus' right foot", he announces.

Everyone, including the rest of the guild onlookers, turns their gaze to where Master Makarov was pointed and a wave of gasps erupt through the crowd for what they saw was something you had to truly see to believe.

"When Romeo launch his attack at Laxus, both of my grandson's feet were planted side by side but now", Makarov explained as he kept pointing at Laxus' right foot which seemed to be a good one step back from where his left foot was.

"Heh, good job you Natsu wannabe", Laxus congratulated Romeo who almost seems out of breath as he panted heavily, "You manage to push me back a single step."

An exhausted smile appears on Romeo's lips but he didn't have time to bask in the moment as he watches Laxus unfold his arms and the next thing he knew he felt excruciating pain coursing through his body, originating from the large fist that was now lounge into his gut.

His vision begun to sway and he could feel his legs give out from underneath him but before he collapses on the ground he heard Laxus's voice.

"First rule of a fight, runt. Expect the unexpected", Laxus grins, "I told gramps I would go easy on you; I never told him I wouldn't hit you back."

Romeo hits the ground with a thump. His vision kept getting darker and he could hear faint voices behind him but all of his remaining consciousness was focus solely on Laxus who was still talking to him.

"And just so you know, that pink-hair idiot manage to push me back five whole steps a little bit after the "Extinguishing" happen and I was actually trying to defend myself against him", as the Rainbow Fire mage's world went dark, "You still got a long way to go, kid."

**Later On**

When he open his eyes again Romeo found himself staring up at a wooden ceiling.

"Where am I?", he groans as he turns his head to the left and spots the familiar setting of the guild's medical room with all of its white sheet beds and curtains along with stacks upon stacks of medical supplies. He attempts to lean up to get a better look, but a sharp pain shot through his body from his ribs cage before he could even get halfway up and he found himself laying back down a moment later. Looking down at his stomach he notices it wrapped tightly in medical bandages, "Oh yeah, now I remember. Laxus punch me."

Quite frankly, he was surprised that he was still breathing after taking a hit like that and even he knew that dragon-slayer was no doubt holding back in his blow or else he wouldn't even be having this conversation with himself.

"I wonder how Porlyusica doing?", Romeo said as he tries to direct his mind somewhere else for a moment to forget about what just happen and being surrounded by medical equipment, of course, his thoughts landed on the guild's medical adviser.

"I was doing just fine until I was basically dragged here by Mira to check up on you", a voice came from his right and he turns to see the elderly herbalist herself standing there with a scowl on her face, "And believe me, I almost didn't come seeing how you ignore my advice not to go off on your little camping trip."

Romeo replies with a nervous laugh, "You're still mad about that, aren't ya?"

"Yes, I am", she replied.

Most of the new members of the guild didn't know this but Porlyusica was on the docks that day in Haregon when Romeo departed for Tenrou trying to change his mind about staying on a normally uninhabited island by himself for a year and a half and her argument was unsurprisingly sound. Alone on an island crawling with ravaging beasts far from the eyes of civilization while only taking the most basic of medical supplies did seem like a bad idea and it once again took a lot of persuading from Master Makarov to let him go seeing how she blocked the plank way leading up onto the ship.

Romeo remember his dad and Wakaba telling him that to Porlyusica, the members of Fairy Tail were the closet thing she had to a family and that Romeo and Asuka the ones she cares for the most seeing how she help bring them both into this world so it was no wonder she was just as against him going as his dad was.

"Granny Porlyusica", he started to say before a broom appears in her hand out of nowhere.

"What was that?", she asks in a cold tone and Romeo found himself sweating bullets.

"Miss Porlyusica!", he quickly corrected himself and let out a sigh of relief when she put the broom down. While she was doing so though something on her hand reflected in the sunlight and caught Romeo's attention. To his surprise, it looked like a golden wedding ring.

"Is that what I think it is?", he asks without thinking, catching Porlyusica slightly off-guard as she follows his eyesight then lets out a sigh.

"I suppose you were going to find out sooner or later", she said as she crosses her arms again, "But Makarov and I got married not long after you left."

"B-But", Romeo stammer out, "But you guys are ancient. Are you even allow to get married at your age?"

Porlyusica quickly snatches the broom up once more and this time there was no escaping Mrs. Dreyar's rage as she bombards him with a fury of swats across his head. His desperate cries for help, which were heard throughout the guildhall, went unanswered as not even Laxus would dare do something that would incur the wrath of his step-grandmother.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Aftershocks.**

"Okay, now that you have...", Makarov hesitated as he tries to find the right word to say as he takes a look at the bruise up Romeo sitting in front of him on one the couches inside the guild master's office, "Recover."

"I guess that's the best way to describe it", Wakaba mutter under his breath as he sat next to Makarov and Laxus and Macao stood on the side.

"I figure it's time you were brought up to speed on the investigation that we are doing into the Extinguishing", the wizard saint began.

This catches Romeo's attention, "Investigation?"

Makarov gives a nod to Macao who brings a map over and unravels it onto the table between the couches. Romeo quickly notices that it was a detailed map of the entire continent of Ishgar with a number of X's and circles drawn in various parts of it. Alongside some of these circles and x's were the names of various Fairy Tail's teams. Team Shadow Gear, the Thunder God Tribe, and last but not least, Team Natsu along with various other team names that Romeo didn't recognize.

"Queen Hisui herself has tasked us with the mission of investigating the possible causes of this epidemic as well as trying to find possible remedies", Macao explain to his son, "Almost all of the veterans are being used for this task while Wakaba and I are collecting the information they are sending back to us while Master Makarov, Laxus, and Mirajane analyze it."

Romeo takes a better look at the map for a moment before looking up at Makarov, "Why did the queen ask us to do this? Doesn't she have her own resources she could use for this?"

Makarov's face took on a grim expression and Romeo felt the mood in the room change.

"Did I say something wrong?", he wondered.

"Tell me, Romeo, what did you see on your way back to Magnolia?", Makarov asks.

Romeo gives his guild master a baffled look but nonetheless thought hard about what he has seen, "There were some warships in Haregon Harbor, along with a checkpoint on the road to Magnolia."

Makarov nodded his head a couple of times, "I suppose you also walk past the blacksmith on your way in as well?"

"Yeah, he was arguing with an army officer about them needing more swords", Romeo says and as if a light-bulb had gone off in his head, he reaches a conclusion, "So just like I thought this morning..." before Makarov waves a hand

"Nothing is set in stone; the queen is still using all of her diplomatic ability to prevent a war but she can't risk agents of the Fiore crown get caught in other countries. Times are tense and everything is hanging on a thin line", Makarov explained before narrowing his eyes, "And that's not all."

**A Border Village In Bosco**

Yudi Village was a small speck of civilization some ten miles away from the Fiore-Bosco border. Surrounded by forest on all sides, the only way into the logging community was through a single narrow road that winds through the woods. While easy to patrol for the military it was also the ideal place to get ambush at night by highwaymen. The town had a single inn in the center of town that had a tavern attach to it. The afternoon crowd had just arrived with the first shift of local loggers finally getting off work and washing away the sweat of a good day's work with the refreshing ale that the bartender and his tavern wenches provided. It was inside of this establishment that The Thunder God Tribe found themselves discussing their next course of action at a table in the corner of the main floor.

"So we're just going to head back to the guild?", Evergreen whispers to Freed and Bickslow, keeping their voices low as to not draw any attention, though, with the level of noise that was going on in the tavern, it wasn't much of an issue, "We haven't really found anything out here."

Freed gives a sharp nod, "We don't have much of an option in this matter, we're starting to draw attention and our job request can only serve as a cover for so long."

"True, plus this country really stinks", Bickslow adds, "I hate it whenever I have jobs up here."

"Jobs up here! Jobs up here!", his "babies" repeats.

The door to the tavern is kicked open and the cold chill of winter came rushing in, bringing with it an entire platoon worth of Bosco soldiers, their axes and bucklers shields strapped to their sides as they were led by a heavy set looking man with a beard that reached down to his stomach. The entire tavern was silent as the man's cold eyes went back and forth as if he was searching for something. Finally, his eyes land on the Thunder God Tribe, locking with the eerie eyes of the Freed and Evergreen but show faint confusion when he looked at Bickslow and his visor.

Disregarding the tall man, for now, the soldier marches straight to them, his very presence clearing a path through the crowd as those who couldn't get out of the way quickly enough were shoved aside by the troops following behind him, the contents on their table and in their mugs spilling out onto the floor as a result. By this point Freed and the others were already standing up watching them but all of them kept their cool as Bickslow merely cross his arms, Evergreen had her fan in one hand while the other was on her hip and Freed kept his right arm straight down along his side, showing no indication of going for his sword which was straddle on the left side of his hip.

"No sudden movements", Freed warns, receiving a nod from both of his teammates just as the man stops a few feet in front of him, his men fanning out to surround the trio.

For what seemed like hours the man merely stare at Freed, his eyes never leaving his. Every now and then his focus his gaze to Bickslow or Evergreen but this was only for a moment before going back to the Rune Mage.

"I am Major Bardovice of the Royal Bosco Army 15th Infantry Division, "The Berserker Loggers", the man introduces himself in a deep voice, thick with the Boscian accent, "And my eyes and ears tell me that there are filthy Fiorians here enjoying the warmth of my country, eating its food and drinking its ale!"

The man then spat on Freed's shoe and out of the corner of the Rune Mage's eye, he sees Bickslow go to unfold his arms, a clear sign that he wasn't pleased by the disrespect that was shown to his friend.

Freed instantly holds up a hand, stopping Bickslow in his track as well as halting Evergreen as she moves to take off her glasses.

"Is there a problem with us being here, Major Bardovice?", Freed calmly asks, "Last I check, the borders between our two countries are still open."

"Hah!", Bardovice barks, "Only because those cowardly men in the Royal Palace dance to the tune of your Queen and her sweet, honey words! If it was up to me, I would have already invaded your pathetic country and wipe it off the map!"

"You mean like how Alvarez almost did to you?", Evergreen grumbles underneath her breath.

"What was that?!", Bardovice snaps as he turns to look at Evergreen but Freed quickly diverts his attention back to him.

"My friend meant no disrespect", Freed assures him, "She just sometimes speak without thinking."

"Hmph", Bardovice grunts as he looks Evergreen up and down, taking in the pink kimono she was wearing, "You make sure that red-hair harlot keeps her mouth shut in my presence before I shut it for her."

"_At least that's working", _Freed tells himself, "I'll be sure to do that."

"You better. Now then, what is your business here in the great country of Bosco?", Bardovice demands.

Freed slowly reaches into his pocket and puts out a folded guild request flier which he calmly hands to Bardovice who snatches it out of his grasp. As he unfolds it and read it over, Freed began to speak once more.

"As the flier explains, we are returning home from a job in the city of Bagnran", he states.

"Bah! If it wasn't for that blasted war your people started, then a Bosco guild could have handled this!", Bardovice curse as he shoves the flier into Freed's chest, "But they were all wipe out defending their motherland during the invasion and now you dogs seek to profit off of it! You disgust me!" as he spits on Freed's other shoe.

"_Must have not put up much of a fight since we were dealing with the majority of the empire's army", _Freed thought, "I'm sure they died courageously, fighting to their last breath."

"I don't need your sympathies, dog!", Bardovice barked as he snaps his fingers and his soldiers reach for their weapons, "Now, what guild are you from, you blue-hair gypsy boy! Depending on your answer, you may yet live to see the next dawn!"

"_Bickslow is never going to let me live it down that his choice of hair-color was a good one", _Freed thought before raising the back of his left hand and showing it to the major. Bickslow opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue while Evergreen pulls open her kimono a little to reveal her guild's mark on her right breast which was the figure of a blue horse with wings around it.

"As you can see, we're of the Blue Pegasus magic guild", he answers.

Bardovice holds up his right hand and his men stood down and put their weapons back into their holsters.

"Consider yourself lucky, you dogs and harlots. For if you were of that cursed Fairy Tail guild, we would have string you and your friend up by your balls while the wench would have been given to my men until they no longer had a use for her", Bardovice threaten as he eyes Evergreen once more and Freed could see that she was trembling with rage.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Major", Bickslow says with a smile, "Her fiancee is quite an animal and becomes a beast when he's angry."

"Bah! Everyone knows that men of Fiore are weak and cowardly! You are to leave Yudi by nightfall; this is your first and only warning!", the major orders.

"We shall do so as soon as we have rested for a time, Major", Freed nods.

"Hah! Fioran pig!", was Bardovice's reply as he turns around and his men step aside to allow him through, falling in behind him as he passes by them. As the last man exits the tavern the door is shut behind him and the tavern resumes its activities, almost as if the military was never there as the wenches clean up the mess and pass out new ale mugs to replace the ones that were spilled.

Freed and the others sit back at their table and the Rune Mage leans over to whisper in Evergreen's ear.

"You know, that red-hair really suits you. You almost look like-" he began.

"I suggest you stop right there unless you want Bickslow to be carrying your statue all the way to the guild", Evergreen threatens.

Freed lets out a chuckle before addressing the tribe, "We'll rest for another hour or two and then be on our way."

"Good idea", Bickslow agrees, "I rather not have another run-in with Major Funny Face."

"Yes, quite", Freed states as he puts out a cloth and begins to clean his shoes of the spit, "Besides, I promise a certain someone that we get their fiancee back in one piece", as he looks over Evergreen who crosses her arms in a huff.

"We would have been able to keep it a secret longer if it weren't for you two and his sisters", she grumbles.

**Back at Fairy Tail**

"What? Why?", Romeo asks, clearly confused by this new bit of information.

"A lot of has happened since you were gone, Romeo", Makarov explains, "Somehow it got leaked out to the general public that the Alvarez Empire only invade because Zeref was after Fairy Heart and the other countries of Ishgar demanded that Fiore pay reparations to them to help them rebuild. When Queen Hisui said no they then demanded that she hand over all of the senior members of Fairy Tail then so we can face trial for "war crimes" as they stated since they believe that we cause the war."

Laxus chuckles, "You can probably guess how that went."

"Therefore, everyone has to be in disguise when they leave the country to investigate and the other members are restricted to jobs just in Fiore for their own safety", Macao says, "And there are people even within our own country that don't like us right now so jobs have been kind of hard to come by lately."

"But the different guild marks?", Romeo asks.

"Our allied guilds are letting us use them to help in our investigation of the "The Extinguishing". Most of these countries are only hostile to Fairy Tail members though other guilds have reported that they're being harassed every now and then, but other than that nothing major has happened to them", Wakaba answers, "Yet."

Romeo is silent as his mind tries to make sense of everything. He then sits up and looks directly at Master Makarov….

"Is there something you want to ask?", the guild master says.

"How's Natsu holding up?"

Makarov's face darkens once more upon hearing the question, "You're sure you want to know?"

**Pergrande Kingdom**

It was called Guadode, or better known as the "City of Blacksmiths", located in the center of the kingdom's southern region, four hundred miles from the Sin/Pergrande border. Located next to ore-rich mountains, the city had been producing some of the finest weapons and armor in Ishgar for over three centuries.

Where the typical city would have markets and vendors, the entire main road of the city of eighty-thousand people was instead lined with dozens of forgeries, each one belching out huge clouds of smoke into the air.

It was here that Yuta Grienda made his living as an honest blacksmith for over fifty years. His family's smithy was one of the best in the city and has been for five generations, it's seven forges working nonstop for two hundred and thirty-one years. While those younger and less-experienced smiths use magic devices to regulate the fire for their forges, Yuta did it the old-fashioned way using nothing more than a set of billows, instinct, and experience that he had accumulated from decades of hard work. Sure it took longer to create stuff, but it paid off once the customer saw that his product was of a higher quality than his competitors. Yet people still said he was senile and crazy for not converting to the new ways but those same people were struggling to get work once the "The Extinguishing" happen and all the other forges nearly went out of business while he profit.

Of course, there was always a catch. Yuta's apprentices always had a hard time keeping up with his standards and went to go work for the more lenient blacksmiths in the city after a while.

The main reason being that they demanded more protection be given to them to shelter them from the heat of the forges and Yuta laughed at them as he tossed them out onto the streets for even suggesting such a ridiculous request. He has been working the forges for more than five decades and all he wore was a pair of pants and goggles when he did. This generation of lads has gotten soft in his opinion.

Anyway, Yuta found himself basically working the forges alone for a time until a strange lad came into his shop about a month ago.

The young man agreed to work the forges in his shop and he could actually handle the heat with no complaints. Sometimes Yuta caught the man simply basking in the heat, just standing there as it rolled over him. But the weirdest thing about the lad was the fact that he worked entire without paid. He simply wanted food and board. Yuta thought this was odd but he wasn't one to look a gifted horse in the mouth, so he took him up on his offer.

"Hey, lad!", Yuta calls out as he went to the back of the shop after just finishing receiving an order from a customer, "We just got an order for fifty swords put in for the local army garrison! You ready to start the forges back up?"

The young man turns to stare at Yuta with nearly lifeless eyes, the same ones he had when he first approached him for a job. He was standing directly in the middle of all the forges, soaking in the heat as if it was sustaining him and had nothing on him except for a pair of white pants with a white scarf wrap around his neck.

"Yeah, old man", he said in a cold voice that sent chill's down Yuta's spine despite the nearly overwhelming heat all around him, "I'm all fired up."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Mine Games**

Romeo sat on the bed in his room, its confines as quiet as the dark streets outside, still trying to wrap his head around everything that has happened while he was gone, a hard task seeing how it was a lot to take in. Natsu not being able to use fire magic is basically like taking away his ability to breathe, it was just so unnatural. His hero ate fire as an afternoon snack and it would come off of him like sweat and now to suddenly have it taken away.

"This is crazy", Romeo says before he heard a knock at his door and his father enters his room, his arms filled with blankets.

"These will help you stay warm through the night", he says as he places them in Romeo's lap and leaves.

Romeo stares at the blankets, confusion etched on his face.

"What the hell?", he wonders as he gets up and leaves his room. Going downstairs he finds his dad in the kitchen, heating up four large pots of water on the stove with his magic, no doubt to create some semblance of heat.

"Dad, what the hell?", Romeo says as he holds up one of the blankets, "Why do I need this?"

"Suppose to be freezing tonight", Macao told him, "I would go to the cathedral and stay there but its starting to get too crowded and the guild can't keep their fireplace running all night."

Romeo shakes, trying to make sense of what was being told to him, "Wait a minute. Hold up, did you forget I could do this?", right before he snaps his fingers and a flame appears in his hand.

"How can I forget that? It's probably the biggest news of the year", Macao says.

Romeo shakes his head and sighs and with a wave of his hand, the small fire floated off his hand and started to hover in the air in the middle of the room, giving off such a large amount of heat that Macao started to sweat.

"Holy crap, where did you learn to do that?", he asks as he took his jacket off.

"Something I learn while training on Tenrou.", Romeo answers.

Macao took a closer inspection of the floating fireball, being his hand closer to it, "I feel the warmth but yet..."

"The flames won't catch anything on fire, it's only meant to give off heat and light, nothing more", Romeo explains, "It was useful for keeping the animals of Tenrou Island away from my campsite at night."

"And how long can you keep this up?" his father then ask.

Romeo shrugs, "All night if I have too, even while I'm sleeping. Although I stop using this spell for personal warmth once I got better control over maintaining my body heat through my magic, but I still use it to protect my camp. Hell, I didn't even realize it was cold when I first got to Magnolia or even when we got to the house. I'm so used to doing that back on Tenrou during the colder months that it just became natural."

"Whoa, this whole time I just been heating up a bunch of water to stay warm and that only affects the kitchen", Macao says as he walks past his son, "Tonight, I'm sleeping in just my boxers!"

"Oh gods", Romeo shakes his head before hearing his father stop just short of being halfway up the stairs, "Something wrong?"

Macao places his hand on his chin as he turns around and heads back down, "How would you feel if the Mines stay the night?"

"Wakaba and his wife?", Romeo asks.

"Along with Lindsay", Macao adds, uneasiness settling in as he mentions her being fully aware of the fractured relationship she and his son share. And sure enough, Romeo narrows his eyes at the mere mention of her name.

"Why are you inviting them all of a sudden?"

"Why else? As I said, it's supposed to be freezing tonight and I'm sure they would appreciate the gesture of being able to sleep in a heated house", Macao answers.

"But we only have one guest room", Romeo points out, "I doubt all three of them are going to fit on the one bed in there."

"Wakaba and Milligana can take that room", Macao says.

"And Lindsay…?", Romeo says, not liking where this was going.

"She would be taking your room", Macao starts before Romeo holds up a hand.

"I'm going to stop you right there. If the whole house is going to be heated, then why does it matter where Lindsay's going to sleep? She can spend the night on the couch", he explains.

"You would let a young lady sleep on a couch instead of a nice comfy bed?", Macao says, giving his son a stern look.

"What's wrong with your room then? Wakaba and his wife can take your room, Lindsay takes the guest bed, and you can take the couch", Romeo suggests, "Besides, I haven't slept in a real bed in a year and a half."

"Hmmm, I think it has something to do with the fact that this is *my* house", Macao answers.

"Maybe," Romeo admits, "but I think you're forgetting that it's *my* heat." With a snap of his fingers, the small, floating flame dispersed, as did its all the warmth it created.

Macao shivers but remains stern. The Conbolt's males have a stare-off waiting to see who would crack first. Unfortunately, the younger one cave in before the older one did.

Romeo groans, lowering his head in defeat. "Fine..." he sighs as his flame reignites, "but it's just for one night, right?"

"Just one night. I'll be right back. Can you put one of those floating flame thingies in each of the bedrooms and the bathroom please?", Macao says as he puts on his jacket and heads out the door, leaving Romeo alone.

"First night back and I don't even get to sleep in my own bed, this is turning out swell", he grumbles as he made his way upstairs. After setting a floating fireball in each room that was sure to be occupied throughout the night, Romeo made his way downstairs.

When he got back he set two up in the living room and made himself comfortable on the couch just his dad came through the door with Wakaba in tow.

"Holy smokes, it's a furnace in here!", he chuckles, "You weren't joking when you said he could heat the whole house! He may have to turn it down a notch or everyone is going to be sleeping in the buff!"

"Please don't put mental images in my head that might scar me for life", Romeo calls out from the living room, "My childhood was already mess-up let's not push it."

"Hey Romeo, thanks for doing this for us, really appreciate it!", Wakaba says before turning to Macao, "I'll go get the wife and kid."

"Alright, I'll go ready the guest room", Macao tells him.

Ten minutes go by and Romeo was getting some light reading in when a knock came at the door.

Romeo goes to open the door and is greeted by the sight of the entire Mine's household standing on his porch, at least the older ones were anyway.

"We're here!", Wakaba greets before taking a step back, "Whoa, have to get used to this heat or else I might pass out".

Romeo shakes his head at the statement but before he could comment, his cheeks came under assault by a pair of large hands, tightly pinching them as a loud voice rang out.

"Oh, my stars! Romeo, you have grown into quite the young handsome man! I bet you're beating the girls off with a stick!", Millgana declares.

"….Sure am", Romeo manages to let out through the pain, "Come on in and make yourself comfortable."

"Don't mind if we do! Come on, Lindsay", Millgana says as she pulls her husband by the arm pass Romeo and into the heated house, leaving the fire mage alone with the last person he wanted to see at the moment, who was still standing at the bottom of his porch stairs in the middle of the street. Her outfit has changed much over the years, for she ditches the dresses not long after joining Twilight Orge. She had a light coat over a long sleeve black t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans to top it off. She grew her hair out a little and it now at least touch her shoulders. She was holding a small traveling bag underneath her arm and she was glaring a hole into Romeo with her light golden eyes.

Seconds went by between the two teenagers in silence, neither one willing to say the first word lest the other one accuses them of trying to start an argument. Black eyes stay lock with gold eyes and Romeo could see that Lindsay was slightly shivering from being out in the cold.

Finally, Romeo steps aside at the doorway and motion a hand into the house, "You're coming in or what? You're going to freeze at there."

Despite the gesture, Lindsay still makes no attempt to move, almost as if she was putting on this show of defiance just to spite Romeo.

"Lindsay, come give your mother a hand here once you get set up!", Wakaba calls out from upstairs.

Lindsay rolls her eyes before stomping toward the doorway, not sparing Romeo a second glance as she moves past him. She only stops momentarily to adjust to the temperature in the house and with that she went up the stairs.

"My room is still in the same place as it always been", Romeo calls out to her without turning around, still looking out into the cold darkness. He gets no response back as he hears a door slam a few moments later.

He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, watching it come out in the night air before looking up to the stars, "Welcome home, Romeo. Everything has changed but some things stay the same."

A few hours have gone by since the Mines' came over and Romeo was laying down on the couch watching one of his fireballs floats through the air while once again thinking about everything he was told earlier.

"No more fire magic in the known world. Gods, what could cause that?", he asks himself, "But why just fire magic? What about water magic, earth magic, wind magic, lightning magic, or any other magic? Why fire?"

"Was talking to yourself the only way you kept from going insane on Tenrou?", a voice from behind him says and Romeo sits up to see Lindsay standing on the stairs case, dressed in red silk pajama pants and a matching button-up top that had the top two buttons undone, looking at him with a pillow in her hand. His floating fireball slowly passes in front of her, allowing him to get a better look at her and being that he was a healthy young man, Romeo's dark eyes linger on her figure far longer than he would have like to admit before meeting her golden ones.

"I see you're still having trouble filling out", Romeo comments and Lindsay's arm move so fast that he didn't have time to dodge the pillow aim at him as it hit him square in the face.

"You insufferable idiot", she curses as she moves to the chair across from him, picking up the pillow on the ground while doing so, "You would think you grow up by now."

"Says the girl with the body of a twelve-year-old boy", Romeo grumbles as he rubs his eyes, "What are you doing here? You already took my room for the night, so what else do you want?"

"First of all from what I was told, it sounded like your father made you give up your room", Lindsay began as she sat down and cross her legs, "Second of all, I can't sleep."

Romeo rolls his eyes, "That still doesn't answer the question on why you're down here."

Lindsay lets out a sigh, "Can't a girl come downstairs and sit in the living room?"

Romeo regards Lindsay for a moment before laying down on the couch with his back to her, "Just don't bother me while you sit, it's been a long day."

For untold minutes, the two were in almost complete silence as the howling winds outside swept through Magnolia and the fireballs provided the only source of light. Romeo could feel Lindsay's eyes on him, staring a hole into his back.

"_Okay, there's no way she just came down here to sit. She's up to something. What does she want? What's she __up to__?", _he thought to himself.

"So what's it like being the only fire mage left in the world?", Lindsay asks.

Romeo rolls his eyes, "_And there it is", _he thinks before speaking, his back still facing her, "There's no definite proof that I'm the only mage around who can use fire."

Lindsay lets out a laugh, "Wow, your naivety is only surpassed by your stupidity."

Now Romeo was turn around and facing Lindsay, his eyes narrow in anger, "I beg your pardon?"

"Do you really think that the royal families of the world didn't exhaust every effort they had in order to find anyone who could use fire magic?", she asks.

"Well, they never found me now, did they?", Romeo states.

"Oh, is that so?" Lindsay laughs, "Guess they forgot about you then, at least Fairy Tail did. But it wouldn't be the first time now, would it? They sure as hell left you behind whenever they went off to save the world even though they always took Wendy along, who is kind of the same age as you when you stop and think about it.",

"That's absurd. How could they-", Romeo began before a thought occurred to him, "_I was on Tenrou when the Extinguishing first happen; why didn't anyone come to see if I was okay? I only know fire magic so I would have been shit out of luck if it would have vanished."_

Romeo immediately gets up and moves to the stairs.

"Need to ask dear old daddy some questions?", Lindsay shouts to him.

"I'll be right back", was all he replies as he makes his way up. Upon getting to the guest room's door he bangs on it and keeps moving to his father's room and bang on that door as well. After a few moments, movement could be heard on the other side of either door as both Wakaba and Macao open their respective doors simultaneously. Thankfully for Romeo, Macao opted out of wearing just boxers and instead was wearing some shorts along with a white t-shirt.

"Why did no one come to check up on me?", Romeo immediately asks, not giving his father or Wakaba time to gain their senses after being abruptly woken up.

"Huh?", was all Macao could grumble out.

Romeo sighs before explaining, "I was on an island all by myself for a year and a half and it was only by the sheerest of luck that my fire magic wasn't affected by this Extinguishing thing. Who knows what could have happened to me if I wasn't so lucky. So I'm going to ask you again, why did no one come to check up on me? Did you guys forget about me or something?"

Macao spares a look at Wakaba down the hall and gets a shrug in response from the Smoke Mage.

Shaking his head, the former guild master turns back to his only child, "No, we didn't forget about you, shame on you for even thinking that. Anyway, there were plans in place to come to get you, Romeo", he finally says.

"And those plans were…..?", Romeo holds up a hand.

"Look, the Extinguishing and the reveal that we were a major factor in the Alvarez invasion hit the guild pretty hard and we are still reeling from it. By the time everything settle down to a manageable level we didn't have many options available to come get you until the waves died down; which by the way, was a bold prediction at best and not a guarantee. Trust me, we thought of everything.", Macao reveal.

"You still haven't answered my question and I doubt you thought of everything", Romeo points out, his irk starting to rise due to a lack of a direct answer. It rose even more so when he spots Lindsay ascending up the stairs and leaning on the wall at the top of it, no doubt enjoying the speculate if the slight grin on her face was anything to go off of.

"Okay, I want you to list off all the possible solutions that we could have used to come get you and I'll counter every one of them", Macao said as he crosses his arms.

"Fine then, how about Jet and his magic? Surely, he can run fast enough to sprint on top of the water", Romeo started.

"He would have trouble in the choppy water and then he would have had to somehow get back from the island while holding you", Macao says, "And before we go any further, the unsafe water conditions stretch out a good thirty miles away from the island in all directions."

Romeo was taken aback by how quickly his dad answer the question but kept going as another idea pop in his head, "What about Happy, Pantherlily, and Carla coming and carrying me back to a ship waiting for us?"

"You're asking a lot from those three to fly through hazardous winds, pick you up, and carry you back. Especially seeing how only Pantherlily would be the only one in shape enough to even make it to the island", Macao counters, "Hell, even Erza using any of her armors that can fly would be pushing it."

"Juvia and her magic?"

"She said that trying to keep the waters calm or trying to swim through them would have taken too much magic and that's not even counting her having to carry you back", Wakaba chime in.

"Mest's teleportation?", Romeo says, trying to keep down the disgust in his voice upon mentioning that name.

"That has about a two-mile limit", Macao answers, "Plus, I doubt you would want him touching you to bring you back."

"True, but what about this?", Romeo says, certain that his father didn't have an answer for this, "What about Blue Pegasus's airships? They were going to be used to come get me in case of an emergency, so why didn't you use them to come check up on me?"

"You know, the funny thing about airships", Macao began, "They use magical devices to start and maintain the engine, which helps the airship stay afloat and move. Those magical devices transfer and cycle stored fire magic through them and guess what?"

"Both of Blue Pegasus' airships have been grounded ever since the Extinguishing happen", Wakaba finishes.

"Any other ideas you have that we should have tried, old dear son of mine?", Macao says while crossing his arms and Romeo suddenly felt like a kid again and his father was seeing right through a lie that he told, "Because you might not realize this but I was worried sick about you the whole time you were gone."

"I-", Romeo started.

"When Mira brought you into the office this morning, we were discussing plans to rent a ship and go get you from Tenrou, hoping that the waves have calm and that you were okay seeing how you didn't call us over the lacrima we gave you.", Wakaba said.

"What happened to that by the way?", Macao asks.

Romeo began scratching the back of his head, "Hahahaha! About that! You see-"

Macao grabs the handle to his door before Romeo could finish, "Go back to sleep and I'll forget we ever had this conversation", he said before closing the door, leaving a guilty-looking Romeo in the hallway.

"Good night, Romeo", Wakaba said a few moments afterward before closing his own door.

Romeo turns to the lone figure still in the hallway with him who was now grinning ear to ear.

"Someone's a little paranoid", she giggles.

"Don't want to hear it", Romeo growls as he walks toward her.

"Did you really believe that they forgot about you?", she questions him with a smile, "That you were so unimportant to even your own father that you thought that they had left you on the island?"

"Shut up, Lindsay", Romeo told her as he walked by her and down the stairs.

"Oh come on, Romeo. Your self-esteem hasn't really gotten any better since we were kids", she calls down to him, "It's quite natural for you to jump to this conclusion."

Romeo stops on the stairs and turns around at his former childhood friends, pointing a finger in her face, "This, among other reasons, is why we don't talk anymore! Because of these stupid little mind games you play on people. You get inside their heads and mess around in there!"

Lindsay merely smirks at the accusation.

"Let's just go back to the way things were!", Romeo says, "Back when I didn't talk to you and you didn't talk to me! Back when everything was normal!"

And with that Romeo stomps down the stairs and flops onto the couch.

"You really think things can go back to the way things were so easily?", Lindsay asks from atop the stairs.

"Good night, Lindsay!", Romeo calls out.

The daughter of Wakaba shakes her head in disappointment, "Oh you naive little boy. You have no idea how much your world is going to change when everybody finds out about you. Have fun, Romeo", as she enters his room and closes the door behind her.

She snuggles into the blankets she laid out on his bed and smiles up at the ceiling. Once again she has proven that she can still mess with the Rainbow Fire mage's head. Even though she was only told this morning about Romeo's ability to still cast fire magic, she had already concocted a plan that would greatly benefit her guild in the long run.

If she played her cards right and everything went according to plan, Twilight Orge will soon be the only guild in the entire world with a fire mage and that is bound to do nothing but bring in the cash.

**A/N: The chapter title is a play on words. Romeo has issues that will become apparent in the next few chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail, Pathfinder, or Dungeons and Dragons.**

**A/N: Okay, this is the second of three chapter updates this story will be getting before I move on to the sequels. Now this chapter is going to cover a subject that I believe I haven't cover yet in my other stories and that is the canon nature of Romeo and Wendy's relationship.**

**Special thanks goes to _Tenryu no hoko,_** ** who is basically a beta for this story.**

**Please leave a Review, Fav, or Follow, if you want. Also check out Elemental Spirit Mage (where Romeo is a summoner and train by Lucy), Wild Master, and A Child of Fire and Brimstone.**

**Chapter 6**

**Cold Shoulder**

As soon as the sun came up, Romeo was making his way to the guildhall, his eyelids heavy due to the small amount of sleep he got last night, no thanks to Lindsay and her little games. Because of her, his relationship with his father after being gone for a year and a half wasn't off to a great start and he left the house early before anyone else woke up just to avoid an awkward confrontation first thing in the morning.

As he finds himself walking through the nearly deserted streets, he couldn't help but notices some of the stares he was getting as he made his way to the guild. Now they weren't judgmental or anything, he just took note that people were staring at him for longer than a natural glance dictates before returning to their business and he could feel more than a couple of eyes on his back as he walked on by. He shrugs it off and kept making his way to the towering building, walking through the front doors and straight into one of the last people he expected to see today.

Unlike Lindsay, the girl sitting down at the closest table to the door hasn't changed much over the years, her body now similar to Levy in most aspects. She still sported the same long twin ponytails and she was still moping the floor with dark mages, dark guilds, monsters, and the likes in a sundress, saying that it provided her with a freedom of movement than other clothing styles simply couldn't provide. Luckily at the advice of Lucy and the other ladies of Fairy Tail, she decided to wear shorts underneath to keep from giving whoever was around her an unexpected eyeful whenever she soars through the air or delivered an absurdly high kick into her foe.

"Wendy?", Romeo says, catching the girl's attention as she looks up from the newspaper she was reading, "When did you get back?"

The dragon-slayer tilts her head and she tries to put a name to the person in front of her, "Romeo?" only to received a nod in return, "Holy smoke, Romeo. You're back from Tenrou already?"

"Sure am", he says as he walks over to her, stopping just a few feet in front of her.

"Wow, and here I thought they were really going to try to have Carla and the others fly and pick you up from there if the waters didn't calm down.", Wendy says.

Romeo takes a deep breath, remembering the awkward conversation from last night he had with his father, "Y-Yeah, that would be crazy."

"Now tell me, what's all this I'm hearing about you being able to cast fire magic?", Wendy asks, getting straight to the point as her tone took on a serious vibe, "It's all I been hearing around the guildhall since I got in about twenty minutes ago."

"_Wow, that didn't take long", _Romeo thought and deciding that actions spoke louder than words, he merely held out his hand and produce a fireball, it's radiating glow attracting the attention of those around him. Wendy's brown eyes widen in surprise as she gets up and extends a hand to hover over the flames, taking in its warmth.

"But how?", she asks.

Romeo dispels the flame and shrugs, "Honestly, I have no idea. I just happen to be on Tenrou when this whole thing happen and somehow it skipped me."

Wendy puts a hand on her chin in thought, "I wonder?" she said but before she could dwell any further, Mira pops up behind her.

"Oh, hi Wendy, I didn't know you would be here today. And what's this, you're talking to Romeo of all people? You two are awfully close to each other", she said as a grin began to stretch across her face from ear to ear.

"What are you talking about? I call you yesterday morning and told you that I would be back today. Plus, I call and told you two weeks ago that I was heading back from Pergrande while the rest of the guys were staying", Wendy explain and Romeo could feel a headache starting up.

"Oh, did you tell me that?", Mira said, faking ignorance, "I must have forgotten all about that."

"Sure you did", Romeo grumbles, not all that surprised that Mirajane was still up to her old tricks. Ever since Wendy got back from Tenrou Mirajane has been constantly badgering the two young mages in an attempt to get them together despite the fact that neither one of them saw the other in that light, something they have told her time and time again. Luckily though she has tone it down as the years went by but Romeo had a sinking feeling that she was to start it back up again.

The Sky dragon-slayer seems to have caught on as Romeo catches her let out a sigh in frustration and hoping to stop this from going any further, he quickly changes the subject.

"Are there any jobs available that I can go on? I need to get back into the swing of things and I also need some spending cash", Romeo asks Mira whose face darkens upon hearing his request.

"Actually...Master Makarov has a job for you in the office he wants you to take on", she says.

"Oh really?", Romeo asks.

"Yeah, you might want to go see him now", Mira suggests.

Romeo gives a nod and makes his way toward the office, leaving Mira and Wendy alone for a moment.

"Was it getting difficult maintaining your cover?", Mira asks the dragon-slayer once she sees Romeo disappears behind the office door and she nods her head.

"Dragon-slayer magic is rare, healing magic even more so", Wendy explains, "I had to forgo healing Natsu after he got into a scrap with some of the locals just so I wouldn't blow my disguise. We had to take him to a nearby hospital to get fixed up and they charged an arm and a leg."

"Well, I can see why Erza decided to send you back. She and the other's magic are far more common than yours and Lucy can just use her Silver Keys if she has too", Mira states.

"True, but I still don't like it", Wendy admits, "The whole world is in a mess right now yet here I am just sitting at the guild."

"I see", Mirajane says before motioning a hand to the table next to them, "Mind talking with me for a minute, Wendy?"

**Guild Master's Office**

"The Snow Devil of Mt. Hakobe", Master Makarov proclaims as he slams the job flier on the desk, a picture of a skinny icy hand with deadly claws in the center of it, "An Ice Elemental that has been terrorizing the villages of the mountain for quite some time.

Romeo picks up the flier and reads it aloud, "Reward: Four hundred thousand jewels."

He then looks down at the day the job was posted, "This job has been open for a year. Why has no one else been able to deal with it?"

"Ice Elementals are especially weak to fire magic", Master Makarov explains.

"I figure that but we have guys like Laxus, Mira, and Erza who are powerful enough to simply overwhelm that so why haven't been able to deal with it?"

As if on cue, the Lightning Dragon-Slayer opens the door and walks into the room, "Because they don't want us there."

"Excuse me?", Romeo asks.

"The villagers in the mountains are just a few of the people within Fiore who are angry with Fairy Tail over our involvement in the Alvarez Invasion", Makarov explains, "Apparently, some troops from the invading forces broke off from the main body and ravage the villages while we were dealing with the main force. They just got back on their feet not too long ago thanks to Queen Hisui diverting money and resources their way."

"So because of that, they're not going to accept help from us to get rid of this Ice Elemental?", Romeo questions, only to get a nod in return from the guild master,

"If we were to go up there, we would receive no lodgings, no payment, nothing. In fact, Gajeel with up there a couple of months back and they threaten to have him arrested for trespassing", Makarov said.

"So they are dead set on hating us even at the expense of their own safety?", Romeo asks, wondering how anyone could be so stupid.

"Anger makes people do foolish things", Makarov answers.

"Then what about the other guilds then? Sabertooth? Lamia Scale? What's their excuse? Don't tell me they don't have anyone who can take on an Ice Elemental", Romeo questions.

"They have sent people, didn't work", Laxus says.

"What about Jura?", Romeo asks.

"He and the rest of the magic council are helping Queen Hisui in trying to prevent a war. They simply don't have time", Makarov answers.

Laxus then spoke up, "Besides, it turns out this Ice Elemental is different than the others."

"Hmm?", was Romeo's reply.

"It only seems to attack during a blizzard, possibly using it for cover. A couple of mages from some of the other guilds have tested this theory and sure enough, they were attacked while in the midst of a snowstorm. Once they manage to engage it, they found out that their magic had little to no effect on it", Laxus finish.

"How? It's an ice elemental, even Gray should be able to take one down and he uses Ice Magic", Romeo states.

"Not this one apparently. We have eye witness accounts saying that their magic had no effect on the creature and it simple fled after a brief fight but not before severely injuring a mage or two in every encounter", Laxus says, "The mages usually stay in the village for a time after their encounter and during that period no attacks are reported. But as soon as they leave, they start up again."

"So it's staking out the village then, waiting for them to leave", Romeo says, surprise that a creature of Mt. Hakobe could be this intelligent outside of Vulcans.

"Correct. This cycle has repeated itself at least four more times but always with the same result. From what I learn about Ice Elementals, as well as other elementals, they grow more and more resistant to physical attacks as they age and the oldest Ice Elementals are some of the toughest creatures around. Still, this one being resistant to magic, in general, is highly unusual.", Makarov explains before holding a single finger, "But thankfully it has been discovered that it's still vulnerable to fire."

"So they've been using what? A burning torch and fire tip arrows?", Romeo asks.

Makarov shakes his head, "The villagers, the soldiers Queen Hisui sent up there, and other mages have tried that and while it does inflict damage upon the creature, it's never enough to put it down. It has been theorizing by some scholars in the capital that this creature is indeed an Elder Ice Elemental and it can only be put down through a powerful concentrate blast of fire or fire magic if there is a mage available to do it."

"But if these villagers hate Fairy Tail, what makes you think they're going to accept me helping them?"

Laxus merely shrugs, "Simple, you're the only one who can right now."

"I'll get going then", Romeo says, trying his best to keep his emotions in check as he was high as a kite after hearing those words of praise from the dragon-slayer, "_I'm the only one who can do this. Finally, the guild will see me for what I'm truly am. Do this one job, Romeo, and you'll be on your way of finally stepping out of the shadows!"_

"Oh, and make sure to take Wendy along with you", Makarov tells, drawing a baffle reaction from the boy.

"Wait, what?"

**Main Floor of the Guild**

Wendy stares across the table at Romeo, her face drawing the same confused look he had just a few minutes ago inside the Guild Master's office.

"Tell me again why he wants me to go with you", she says.

"Master Makarov said that you have experience in dealing with Ice Elementals from your jobs with Natsu and the others in Iceberg, so it would be a good idea to bring you along. He also states that your super senses will prove invaluable in tracking it", Romeo explains.

"Then why didn't he assign Laxus to help you? He has hunted down Ice Elementals before as well", Wendy questions.

"You have heard what Laxus did to me yesterday, right?", Romeo asks while subconsciously placing his hand on his gut.

"Yes, I did. But I fail to-oh, oh okay, I get it", Wendy says, figuring out where Romeo was going with his question, " Moving on, I just got back and Carla is still at the Exceed's village with Happy and Pantherlily but when does he want us to leave?"

"As soon as possible", Romeo replies, "According to the weather reports, there's suppose to be a blizzard coming in later on today in the mountains and that's when it like to hunt."

"Fuck", Wendy curses, causing everyone in the vicinity to gasp.

"I really need to stop hanging around Gajeel so much", the dragon-slayer comments as she shakes her head.

Watching the two young mages from their position in the office doorway was Master Makarov and Laxus, having a quiet conversation.

"Think we should have told him the truth?" Laxus asks after a moment.

Makarov shakes his head, "Let's see how he handles this job and we'll proceed from there. Everything is hanging on a web of thin delicate threads and Romeo is caught right smack dab in the middle of it even if he doesn't realize it yet."

_ **Sometime later** _

After getting back to his house and thankfully avoiding an awkward conversation with his dad, Romeo pack up his things and meet up with Wendy on the outskirts of town, once again trying his best to pay no mind to the looks he was getting from people as he walks by them.

"_I hope this doesn't become a routine thing", _he tells himself as he and Wendy went on their way to Mt. Hakobe, catching a carriage that would take them to the main village.

"Akura Village", Romeo read aloud from the flier, "That's who is putting the job out seeing how they're the richest village on the mountain, which isn't saying much when you stop and think about it, while also using some of the funds provided to them from the crown."

"Hmph", Wendy responds as the fire mage notices her looking a little green.

"Motion sickness, huh?", Romeo says, recalling that while hers wasn't as bad as Natsu or Gajeel, it still made her queasy and unable to move much during travel.

Speaking of the Fire Dragon-Slayer, Romeo would have to remember to ask Wendy how he's doing, whenever she was feeling better.

The carriage drifted through the mountain path, the entire area blanketing in a sheet of white as snow began to fall all around them. Inside of the horse-drawn cart, Romeo was looking out the window and taking in the beauty of the scenery as the dreadful cold was kept at bay by the fireball that was currently hovering a few inches above his head while Wendy was laying down on the seat with her back to him in an effort to quell her upset stomach.

The carriage arrives in Akura Village six hours after the pair departed Magnolia, the wheels skidding to a halt outside what looks like the largest building in the community., possibly the inn. Romeo opens the door and hops out with his traveling bag strap to his shoulder and began taking in the sight of all the surrounding buildings and people walking outside. Most of the village was obscured by the coming storm but he could see the outline of a few buildings. Turning back to the cart he sees Wendy slowly getting out, hunching over upon setting her feet on solid ground with her hands on her knees.

"Are you going to be okay?", he asks and only gets a thumbs-up in return from the dragon-slayer. After she recovers they made their way to the building and went inside just as the snow started to really pour down. In the middle of the spacious lobby with a roaring fireplace on its left and a dining room on its right, they found a small desk where an elderly woman with faded red hair and dull green eyes was reading through a log. Romeo and Wendy walk straight up to her.

"Excuse me", Wendy began and the woman looks up for a moment, takes a good look at the pair and went back to her book.

"We don't want your kind here", the lady said, catching both of the young mages off guard by her bluntness.

"I beg your pardon?", Wendy recovers.

"I said", as the lady looks back up from her book and glares at the two mages, "We don't want your kind around here. I know who you are, missy. You're from Fairy Tail and this village has a thing against guilds who drag innocent people into their wars."

"Now ma'am, with respect", Wendy began.

"I suggest you leave. You will find no coin here or even a warm place to sleep", the lady once more blurts out and Romeo could see that Wendy's patience was reaching it ends as he notices her hands slightly trembling as she grips the desk. He then spots her grip tightening so much on the wood that cracks were starting to form.

"_And to think she's the calmest one of Team Natsu. Even Lucy has been known to erupt on people but not Wendy", _Romeo tells himself before an idea occur to him, _"Master Makarov did say that these folks might be getting desperate in ridden themselves of this Ice Elemental. I wonder..."_

"Listen, we just want to help", Wendy says in a strained voice, her patience reaching its limits. While most people would still say that she's an angel, she wasn't that same little girl anymore from years back. Hanging around the other dragon-slayers over the years has made her start to take on parts of their aggressive attitudes, especially Gajeel. Now while she wasn't the one to punch first ask questions never, even her kindness wasn't limitless.

"And I'll tell you again, we don't want Fairy Tail's help. So how about you-" the lady replies right before.

"Guess we'll be going then", Romeo interrupts and Wendy's rising anger momentarily fades and she turns around abruptly to see him heading toward the door.

"What about the job?", she shouts at him only to be ignored as he opens the door.

"Brrrrrrr!", he lets out while shivering, "It's getting cold outside! I might have to do something to keep myself warm", he states as he raises a hand and a stream of fire erupts from it. The flames swirl around the boy, covering him in a line that went around his waist before crisscrossing over his chest.

Wendy hears the woman gasp behind her and glances over her shoulder to see that she had both hands covering her mouth, eyes widen in astonishment.

Romeo turns back around and gives the lady a nod, "Sorry to waste your time, we'll be on our way."

"Wait!", the woman cries out.

Romeo turns back around with a quizzical look in his eye, "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

The woman comes from around the desk and moves toward Romeo, completely ignoring Wendy, "Sorry about my rudeness from earlier. The Snow Devil has everyone on edge these days. I'm Yuna Durane."

"Romeo Conbolt, Miss Durane", he replies.

"Are you here to get rid of the monster, Mr. Conbolt?", Miss Durane asks.

"Yes, *we* are", Romeo answers while nodding to Wendy, "We're here to fight the beast."

Miss Durane turns back around to the girl who now leveling her with a heated stare.

"Sorry about that, young miss. Lots of sleepless nights recently."

"I bet", Wendy growls but notices Romeo shaking his head behind her.

Swallowing her dragon's pride, not as easy to do nowadays as it used to be, Wendy plasters a fake smile on her face, "It's no problem, but is it possible for us to get some lodging while we're on the job?"

Miss Durane claps her hands together, "Well, let me see what I can rustle up. Also, I assume you want to speak to the mayor as well."

"If you could get a hold of him for us that would be nice", Romeo told her and the lady sped off to a door on the right side of her desk which led into an office, entering the room and closing the door behind her.

Through her draconian hearing, Wendy picks up the sound of a communication lacrima starting up but ignores this as she turns her attention to Romeo who merely shrugs before dispelling his flames.

"Did you know that would work?", Wendy questions him while she clearly hears Mis Durane in the other room saying something along the lines of "He can cast fire magic!"

"I had a hunch since Master Makarov told me that fire seems to be the only thing that affects the creature...", Romeo began.

"And a mage who can still use fire magic just so happens to show up at their doorstep despite being from a guild that they so adamantly despise. And sure enough, they were quick to change their tune", Wendy finishes.

"Don't get your hopes up, we still haven't even talked to the mayor yet", Romeo reminds her as Miss Durane comes back out of the office.

"Well, I just got off the lacrima with the mayor and he said that as soon as the blizzard passes, he'll come see you here in the inn", she announces drawing looks of confusion from both the fire mage and dragon-slayer.

Wendy was the first to speak, "Has the creature been attacking the town?"

"Oh heavens no! That would be too much even for us mountains folks!", Miss Durane answers.

"Then why can't he come see us now? I know the blizzards up here can go on for quite a while, probably even until the morning", Romeo questions, "The sooner we get information about this monster the sooner we can get rid of it."

"Well...", the woman hesitates and her smiles drops, "He rather not take that chance. You know the old saying "Sometimes it's best not to tempt fate", right?"

The two mages look at one another for a moment.

"Well, I guess we'll wait then", Wendy says.

"Wonderful!", Miss Durane says, her smile instantly coming back, "So I can book you two down for a single room during your stay?"

"No, separate rooms please", Romeo answers while Wendy nods her head.

Miss Durane finds herself surprised by this notion, "Oh, I'm sorry, I figure you two were a couple."

Wendy shakes her head, "No ma'am, we're just friends-"

"Guildmates", Romeo corrects her and this time it was Wendy's turn to be surprised as she snaps her head at him

"We're just guildmates and we'll be needing two separate rooms for our stay", Romeo says.

The desk clerk snaps out of her stupor and produces two keys, each one with a number etched on them. Romeo grabs the one in her left hand and heads to the stairs, without noticing that Wendy was watching him until he turns the corner. She then looks back at Miss Durane and quietly took the key out of her hand and made her way upstairs.

Two hours later, Wendy was in her inn room, pacing back and forth from one end to another. She has been doing this for well over an hour and a half and it doesn't look like she was stopping anytime soon. Every now and then though she would stop and focus her hearing to make sure that the only thing going on outside was the snow falling to the ground, but after not hearing anything suspicious she went right back to her routine.

"Not friends. Not friends, only guildmates. Who does he think he is?", she asks herself, "Everyone in Fairy Tail is friends with one another. I even consider Macao and Wakaba my friends, despite their perverted tendencies. How could he not consider us friends?"

The slayer stops mid-pace and looks up at the ceiling in thought.

"Maybe I'm overreacting, I've been doing that a lot recently", she said, thinking back on everything that has been happening, not with just the effects of the Extinguishing but more personal manners.

Her most prominent personal problem all started back before the global magical epidemic, back at Master Makarov and Porlyusica's wedding. The elderly couple had just been married at the altar and the ceremony had moved to the dining hall where everyone was having a good time. Wendy found herself so deep in a conversation with Kagura that she didn't even notice that Porlyusica was getting ready to throw the bouquet from the other side of the hall. She also didn't know that even at her age, the potion maker still had quite an arm and flung the flowers clear across the room and straight toward their table and what happened next was one of the few times Wendy has ever cursed her enhance reflexes. On instinct that has been hone through countless battles, the moment Wendy saw something flying toward her general vicinity out of the corner of her eye, her hand instantly reach out to intercept it. It wasn't even two seconds after she caught it firmly in her grasp did she realize what it was and that's where her torment began.

Nearly every day since then, she was bombarded with the same questions over and over again by Lucy, Levy, Cana, Mira, and the rest of the girls, including Erza and Carla who have gotten with their respective other, (though Wendy suspects that Carla only doing this because she doesn't want the dragon-slayer to be alone the rest of her life). It as if the bouquet had a spell on it that caused her friends to all of a sudden intrude into her personal life.

"When are you going to get yourself a boyfriend, Wendy? When are you going to find the love of your life?", Wendy says, doing a terrible imitation of Mira who asks her these very questions this morning after Romeo left to go see Master Makarov. Frankly, it was starting to get on her nerves. To be fair, she did try dating Mest once she turned seventeen, or at least the equivalent of that since she was really over four hundred years old, but that ended within a month after she got fed up with how the now official Rune Knight Captain kept treating her like she was still a little kid. But at least for that month, everyone was off her case but as soon as she was back to being single, the vultures starting circling again.

And worst of all, they were probably now only going to intensify their attacks now that Romeo was back if Mira's antics earlier today were anything to go off of.

"Why can't they leave me peace? So what if everyone else is pair off but me? So what if even Asuka had a little boyfriend of her own? Chelia and Beth are still single and no one from their guild gives them crap about it!", Wendy asks herself, her irritation now started to rise, "I can be single and happy, right? There's no law saying I have to be with someone, is there? Arrrrgh!", she growls as she strikes a nearby dresser, easily breaking a chunk of it off with her dragon strength, "Everyone needs to stay out of my love life or lack thereof!"

In a moment of clarity, Wendy was starting to realize that this was maybe the real reason why her patience has faded over the years. What used to be nearly infinite in dealing with anyone who wasn't a dark mage or enemy of Fairy Tail has now shrunk considerably due to the constant questions and whatnot. But for now, she needed to clear her head. She would soon be up against a dangerous creature in its own element and she couldn't have these thoughts clouding her mind. She needed some answers and she needed them fast.

Romeo was lying down on the bed in his room reading a book while listening to the howl of the blizzard outside when a knock came at his door.

"Who is it?", he calls.

"It's Wendy", came the answer on the other side, "Can we talk for a moment?"

Romeo gets up and heads toward the door, opening it up to reveal Wendy with a, if he didn't know any better, displeasing look on her face.

"Can I….help you?", Romeo asks, a little unsure on how to proceed with this unique situation. While Wendy has shown a negative side of her to others outside of the guild, it was rare to see her with such an expression directed at someone from Fairy Tail or one of the allied guilds. At least, he has never seen her do it.

"Do I do something to offend you?", Wendy asks right off the bat, catching Romeo off-guard. When he recovers though, he shook his head.

"No, not that I can think of", he tells her, wondering to himself where exactly this was heading.

"Then what was all that when we were checking in?" she asks.

Romeo puts one arm on the doorframe and leans into it while looking down into Wendy's eyes, "What exactly did I do?"

"You told the innkeeper that we were only guildmates", she answers.

"We are", the fire mage replies.

"Aren't we friends?", Wendy asks.

"Friends would be a strong word seeing how we rarely interact with one another", Romeo tells her.

"Excuse me?", Wendy says, taken aback by his answer, "We talk all the time."

"We do? Really? When", Romeo says,

"Why we talked just-" Wendy says but gets interrupted by an inhuman roar that echoed throughout the entire village, making the blood run cold in her veins at the mere sound of it. Both her and Romeo instantly race to the window in his room that looked out into the center of town but all they could see was white as the snow came plummeting down.

A few moments later, they heard the roar once more only this time it was followed up by a chorus of human screams.

"That's coming directly across the way from us!", Wendy says.

"Go get something warm on and I'll meet you outside! Hurry!", he tells her.

Wendy gives a nod and sprints back to her room while Romeo merely curses under his breath as he opens up the window and prepares to jump out.

"Of course it would be today! It would be just my luck it would start attacking the village the day we show up!" as he leaps out into the blizzard.

**A/N: We will see how everything goes from here.**

**Please leave a Review, Fav, or Follow, if you want. Also check out Elemental Spirit Mage (where Romeo is a summoner and train by Lucy), Wild Master, and A Child of Fire and Brimstone.**


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